Top Idries Shah Quotes - Quotesmemo.com

Idries Shah Biography

Idries Shah (/ˈɪdrɪs ˈʃɑː/; Pashto: ادريس شاه‎, Urdu: ادریس شاه‬‎; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي) and by the pen name Arkon Daraul, was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies.

Read about Idries Shah in Wikipedia

Random Authors

Idries Shah Quotes

When the ignorant have become numerous or powerful enough, they have been referred to by a special name. This names is 'the Wise'.

Enough, Names, Numerous, Powerful, Referred, Wise

A real secret is something which only one person knows.

Knows, Persons, Real, Secret

One cannot learn from someone whom one distrusts.

Distrust, Learn, Distrusts

People used to play with toys. Now the toys play with them.

People, Play, Toys, Used

He that is purified by love is pure; and he that is absorbed in the Beloved and hath abandoned all else is a Sufi. Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah.

Beloved, Ikbal, Love Is, Shah, Sufi

If you can turn a murderer into a mere thief, you are making progress.

Making, Murderer, Progress, Thief, Thieves, Turn

Christian scholars often say that Sufi theories are close to those of Christianity. Many Moslems maintain that they are essentially derived from Islam. The resemblance of many Sufi ideas to those of several religious and esoteric systems are sometimes taken as evidence of derivation. The Islamic interpretation is that religion is of one origin, differences being due to local or historical causes.

Christian, Interpretation, Islam, Islamic, Religious, Taken

You must empty out the dirty water before you fill the pitcher with clean.

Clean, Dirty, Empty, Water

Anyone can see that an ass laden with books remains a donkey. A human being laden with the undigested results of a tussle with thoughts and books, however, still passes for wise.

Ass, Book, See, Thoughts, Wise

Prescribing hard work for the soft, or easy work for the hardy, is generally nonsense. What is always needed in any aim is right effort, right time, right people, right materials.

Hard Work, People, Effort, Prescribing, Materials, Nonsense

Talking about straws and camels' backs is just one way of approaching things. If you have enough camels, no backs need be broken.

Broken, Enough, Preparation, Talking, Things, Way

Anybody or anything may stand between you and knowledge if you are unfit for it.

May, Ifs, Unfit, Knowledge, Stand

MAN: Kick him-he'll forgive you. Flatter him-he may or may not see through you. But ignore him and he'll hate you

Flatter, Forgiving, Hate, Man, Men, See

Knowledge is not gained, it is there all the time. It is the "veils" which have to be dissolved in the mind.

Dissolved, Mind, Time, Veils

The stupidest man I ever met had a favourite saying. It was: 'What do you think I am, stupid, or something?

Men, Met, Saying, Stupid, Think, Thinking

The Way of the Sufis cannot be understood by means of the intellect or by ordinary book learning.

Book, Intellect, Learning, Mean, Ordinary, Way

One can give or withhold in a manner far more effective, sophisticated, useful, which is quite invisible to people who think that giving or withholding is done by external assessment. If you seek some mark of favour or 'promotion', know that you are not ready for it. Progress comes through capacity to learn, and is irresistible. Nobody can stand between you and knowledge if you are fit for it.

Assessment, Irresistible, People, Promotion, Sophisticated, Thinking

Knowledge is something which you can use. Belief is something which uses you.

Belief, Knowledge, Use

There is a Persian proverb: 'To test that which has been tested is ignorance. ' To try to test something without the means of testing is even worse.

Ignorance, Mean, Persian, Proverb, Testing, Trying

If you are uninterested in what I say, there's an end to it. If you like what I say, please try to understand which previous influences have made you like it. If you like some of the things I say, and dislike others, you could try to understand why. If you dislike all I say, why not try to find out what formed your attitude?

Attitude, Previous, Say, Things, Trying, Why Not

1